The trial of the Tate brothers can begin. The Bucharest Court rejected the exceptions formulated by the defendants

The Bucharest Court ordered, on Friday, the start of the trial in the case in which brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate are accused of forming an organized criminal group, human trafficking in a continuous form and rape in a continuous form, the preliminary chamber judge finding the legality of the indictment and rejecting more many requests and exceptions formulated by the two brothers. Friday’s conclusion was contested by the Tate brothers, their representatives said.

In the conclusion given by the preliminary chamber judge from the Bucharest Court it is stated that, based on art. 345 paragraph 1 C. proc. pen., the court rejects as unfounded the requests and exceptions formulated by the defendants Tate III Emory Andrew, Tate Tristan, Naghel Georgiana-Manuela and Radu Alexandra-Luana, informs News.ro.

“Based on art. 346 para. 2 C.proc.pen. ascertains the competence and legality of the referral to the court with the indictment no. 1305/D/P/2022 dated 15.06.2023 of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice – DIICOT – Central Structure, Section for Combating Organized Crime, which ordered the prosecution of the defendants: – Tate III Emory Andrew, (data) for committing the crimes of constituting an organized criminal group, prev. of art. 367 para. 1, 3 and 6 Penal Code, human trafficking, in continued form, prev. of art. 210 para. 1 lit. of C.pen. rap. to art. 182 lit. a and c C.pen., with app. Art. 35 para. 1 C.pen. – four material acts and rape, in continuous form – two material acts, prev. of art. 218 para. 1 Penal Code, with app. Art. 35 para. 1 Penal Code, all with the application of art. 38 paragraph 1 Penal Code. – Tate Tristan, (data) for committing the crimes of constituting an organized criminal group, prev. of art. 367 para. 1, 3 and 6 C.pen, human trafficking, in continued form, prev. of art. 210 para. 1 lit. of C.pen. rap. to art. 182 lit. a ?ic C.pen., with app. Art. 35 para. 1 C.pen. – three material acts and instigation to hit or other violence, prev. of art. 47 C. pen. rap. to art. 193 para. 1 Penal Code, all with the application of art. 38 paragraph 1 C. pen. – Naghel Georgiana-Manuela, (data) for committing the crimes of forming an organized criminal group, prev. of art. 367 para. 1, 3 and 6 Penal Code, human trafficking, in continued form, prev. of art. 210 para. 1 lit. of C.pen. rap. to art. 182 lit. a and c C.pen., with app. Art. 35 para. 1 C.pen. – six material documents, illegal access to the computer system, prev. of art. 360 para. 1 and 3 Penal Code, altering the integrity of computer data, prev. of art. 362 Criminal Code and hitting or other violence, prev. of art. 193 para. 1 C.pen, all with the application of art. 38 paragraph 1 C. pen. – Radu Alexandra-Luana, (data) for committing the crimes of constituting an organized criminal group, prev. of art. 367 para. 1, 3 and 6 C. pen. and human trafficking, in continuous form -prev. of art. 210 para. 1 lit. of C.pen. rap. to art. 182 lit. a and c C.pen., with app. Art. 35 para. 1 C.pen. – five material documents, both with the application of art. 38 paragraph 1 Penal Code. It confirms the legality of the administration of evidence and the execution of documents by the criminal investigation bodies and orders the start of the trial in the case”, it is written in the document published on Friday, on the portal of the courts.

The decision can be appealed within 3 days from the communication of the conclusion.

The Tate brothers’ lawyers appealed the decision

“The conclusion given by the preliminary chamber judge has no legal basis and reason. We filed an appeal because we consider the conclusion illegal”, said Eugen Vidineac, the main lawyer of the Tate brothers.

Another of their lawyers, Ioan Gliga, stated: “We reaffirm our confidence in the correctness of the arguments we presented during the hearings in the preliminary chamber and in the memorandum regarding the legality of the criminal investigation. Although these did not receive the necessary attention in the preliminary hearing, we are confident that the judges of the Court of Appeal will support us”.

Brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate were sent to court in June 2023 for forming an organized criminal group, continued human trafficking and continued rape.

The Bucharest Court found the legality of the DIICOT indictment

The DIICOT prosecutors completed the investigation and ordered the indictment of Andrew Tate, his brother, Tristan Tate, as well as the two alleged accomplices of the two. The file in which the four will be tried, at the Bucharest Court, concerns crimes of constituting an organized criminal group, human trafficking in a continuous form, rape in a continuous form, illegal access to the computer system, alteration of the integrity of computer data, instigation to hit or other violence and hitting or other violence. Of the seven women who have the status of injured person in the investigation, three have become civil parties in the file sent for trial.

“Through the indictment dated 15.06.2023, the prosecutors of the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism – Central Structure ordered the sending to court (under house arrest) of 4 defendants, two people with dual citizenship, British and American , and two Romanian citizens, for committing the crimes of constituting an organized criminal group, human trafficking in a continuous form (in relation to each individual defendant, four material acts, three material acts, six material acts and, respectively, five material acts in relation to the number of injured persons), continued rape (two material acts), illegal access to the computer system, alteration of the integrity of computer data, instigation to hit or other violence and hitting or other violence. In the case it was held that, at the beginning of 2021, the four defendants constituted an organized criminal group with a view to committing the crime of human trafficking on the territory of Romania, but also in other countries, such as the United States of America and Great Britain”, informs DIICOT.

During the criminal investigation, the prosecutors identified seven women who “were subjected to the execution of a work, by force, in order to obtain important financial benefits consisting of the sums of money received as a result of accessing the materials by the users of the platforms”.

“Among the 7 injured persons who were sexually exploited by the organized criminal group, three became civil parties in the criminal process”, said DIICOT.

Regarding the accusation of rape, the prosecutors noted that, in March 2022, a woman was forced by one of the defendants, through the exercise of physical violence and psychological pressure, to repeatedly have sexual relations – two material acts, according to the documents from the file.

“Regarding the crimes of illegal access to the computer system and alteration of the integrity of computer data, it was noted that, in October 2021, one of the defendants illegally accessed the computer system belonging to one of the injured persons and posted on her social media account the materials that obtained them in this way, which depicted her in compromising poses”, the investigators reported.

The accusations of instigating hitting or other violence, respectively hitting or other violence refer to the fact that, in October 2021, in order to “punish” one of the victims, who refused to continue making pornographic materials and requested to be allowed to leave the building located in Ilfov county, at the instigation of one of the defendants, another defendant exercised acts of violence on the injured person.

“The indictment requested the confiscation of several movable and immovable assets (unavailable and seized): 15 lands and buildings located within the counties of Ilfov, Prahova and Braşov, 15 luxury cars, 14 luxury watches, 2 ingots and a medal, the social parts held within 4 commercial companies, the sums of 86,580 lei, 52,650 euros, 17,430 USD and 10,370 British pounds and the amount of 21,080508 BTC, existing in cryptocurrency wallets (approximately 384,904,789 USD), as well as obliging the defendants to pay some legal expenses advanced by the state in the amount of 300,000 lei. Also, through the referral act, the case was ordered to be dismissed regarding the commission of the crimes of money laundering, favoring the perpetrator, influencing statements, trafficking of minors and human trafficking”, DIICOT also stated.

Publisher: MI

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